Archive for the ‘Ford’ tag

Editor’s note: With Mad Max: Fury Road opening at theaters everywhere this weekend, we thought it appropriate to run a piece on the real star of the first two movies. This article comes to us from Myles Kornblatt, curator, Miami Auto Museum at the Dezer Collection. Myles contributes to multiple publications as well as AutoMinded.com.

“She the last of the V-8s. She sucks nitro.”

That statement, uttered by an Aussie mechanic in a low-budget film, would ignite a passion in just about everyone, from the leather-clad main character to teenagers in their theater seats. The only original Pursuit Special is an icon, inspired folklore, and just like Mad Max, refuses to die – both on screen and in real life.

So why would a classic Australian rebel be living the retired life at the Miami Auto Museum? Maybe it’s following the movie’s other star, Mel Gibson’s lineage. After all, the American-born Gibson is seen as a true Aussie who made his home in the United States. Could this Australian Ford with an American parent just be returning home? For those who don’t buy into that last analogy, it might help to understand this important coupe’s long and strange journey.

* As Mac’s Motor City Garage showed us this week, Ford engineers in the late 1960s wanted to see what would happen if they mounted a Mustang’s engine behind its seats rather than under the hood. As it turned out, not much – performance and handling remained about the same – so Ford scrapped it.

* Larry Watson never finished his Space Age custom Ford Econoline pickup, but that doesn’t mean we can’t at least get an idea of what Watson had in mind, based on a batch of photos of Space Age that Custom Car Chronicle assembled this week.

* Probably the European equivalent of the King Midget, the Volugrafo 46 Bimbo was intended as an around-town runabout, though apparently a sport version added a second engine (for a whopping two cylinders total). Banovsky’s Car of the Day has more on the Bimbo.

On November 26, 1967, Jimmy Clark—Indy 500 Champion and two-time F1 World Champion—climbed into the cockpit of the yellow-liveried #21 Vollstedt at the start of the 116-lap “Rex Mays 300” in Riverside, California. It was Sunday, and it would be Clark’s last race in America before his tragic death at the Hockenheimring less than five months later.

The car, Ford-powered chassis 67-B, was one of two designed and built by Rolla Vollstedt and his team in Portland, Oregon, to compete in the 1967 Indy 500, which it did under the hand of Cale Yarborough.

Yarborough had taken over 67-B, after wrecking chassis 67-A in practice, then qualified 20th in it, with a speed of 162.830 MPH. During the race, he ran as high as fourth before a debris-induced blowout on lap 176 sent him spinning into the wall. A.J. Foyt went on to take the checkered flag, making it the third of his legendary four wins at the 500.

Almost six months later, at the Rex Mays 300—the USAC championship-car season finale—Jimmy Clark, who had been recruited by Vollstedt for a one-time drive, lauded 67-B as “A good motorcar, in fact, a very good motorcar.”

Clark (right) explains to John Surtees Vollstedt’s tunable rear wing—the first used in Indy car. Though originally skeptical, Clark changed his mind about the design after race day, and brought it back with him to F1.

Hand-formed by California Metal Shaping of stressed aluminum, and faired nose and tail with fiberglass, its body followed the trend in the Sixties toward monocoque designs. The 67-A and B cars were Vollstedt’s second generation of this type, the first having been sold to the Jim Robbins Company to fund this next iteration.

Instead of fitting an Offenhauser into the rear engine area—the formula Vollstedt is known for pioneering in American Indy car racing—he installed a normally aspirated 425-hp, 255-cu.in. Ford racing four-cam V-8 engine.

The “bundle of snakes” emerging from the top of the engine distinguishes the Ford four-cam powerplant from the Offenhausers of the time. Photo courtesy of Brady A. Schwartz.

Other teams at the ’67 Rex Mays 300 were also running Ford powerplants, but what Vollstedt did with his was unique. As the Ford engine exhausted topside, then back, the pipes provided a spot upon which to affix another Vollstedt innovation: a flat aluminum surface with a tunable upward-deflecting trailing edge—the predecessor of the now ubiquitous rear race wing. In addition, the collaboration between Clark and Vollstedt that weekend resulted in fitting contoured aluminum vanes on either side of the nose of both cars to increase front-end downforce.

During qualifying on the road course—amid a field of greats that included Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Gordon Johncock and Al Unser Sr.—Clark took the Vollstedt-built Bryant Heating & Cooling Special to almost unimaginable speeds, very nearly pushing Dan Gurney and his Indy Eagle from the pole at his home track.

On race day, Clark, starting in second, with Bobby Unser and John Surtees right behind him, stole the lead from Gurney and held it until lap 25 when his exhaust began to smoke. According to Vollstedt, Clark had “…missed a shift, over revved the engine and tagged a valve.” Nevertheless, that brief showing was spectacular enough to cause Brock Yates to report in Car & Driver that Clark had driven the Vollstedt “faster than was thought capable by a mortal man.”

Three-time Indy 500-winner Dario Franchitti at the Brickyard’s centennial celebration in 2011, lost in the moment in the Vollstedt that Jimmy Clark, his countryman and hero, raced at the Rex Mays 300 in ’67. Photo by Marc Prentice.

Some devotees still wrestle a lump in their throats when they retell the story that Clark is said to have felt so bad about what he considered his error at Riverside that he went to each member of the team and apologized. In other versions of the tale, he shared the small purse and even the driving fee with them.

Ultimately, Clark’s teammate, George Follmer, in the #17 car (Vollstedt 67-A) would come up from 12th to finish sixth, while Gurney, having recovered from a spinout and a puncture, clawed his way past the likes of Foyt, Andretti and Bobby Unser, to reassert his supremacy at Riverside. National Speed Sport News, called it, “a magical day in 1967 when the best drivers in the world put on a race for the ages.”

Vollstedt driver George Follmer and the car’s co-owner Mike McKinney.

Ever the engineer, Vollstedt asked Clark what he could do to make the car better. Clark replied: “First, get a rev-limiter. Second, get a longer gearshift lever, so one can shift more aggressively. Third, more suspension travel.”

Vollstedt continued to make improvements to the cars, which went on to race for the better part of a decade under a variety of colors and numbers. In ’68, the rounded fiberglass rear-end fairing was traded for a ducktail design, yielding improved aero and room for the new turbocharger, which blew the Ford’s power ratings up from 425 hp at 8,000 RPM to 825 hp at 9,600 RPM.

The rear end and engine area were cleaned up for ’69, and the oval nose was made more rectangular, lowered and fitted internally with two small upward-sweeping vanes—all toward improving efficiency and increasing downforce. In the future, a full-fledged tail wing became part of the design. Occasionally, 67-B’s turbocharged, methanol-swilling Ford engine was swapped for a naturally aspirated, gasoline-powered Chevy small-block for use on some road courses.

Mike McKinney, current co-owner of 67-B, when he first met Rolla and Kurt Vollstedt at the elder’s shop 10 years ago. Rolla holds the trophy for design excellence that was originally presented to A.J. Watson for ostensibly pioneering the rear-engine-Offenhauser-powered architecture at Indy. But Watson acknowledged that he had gotten the idea from Vollstedt and in-turn awarded the trophy to him.

From their debut in 1967 until 1976, by which time they had both ceased appearing on the rosters, the nearly identical twin Vollstedts had been campaigned admirably, with six Indy 500 starts between them—one resulting in a ninth-place best finish at the Brickyard in 1969—13 top-10 Indy car finishes, including three top-fives and one second-place podium (67-B) at Saint Jovite/Mont Tremblant. The list of their capable pilots includes John Cannon, Wally Dallenbach, Larry Dickson, George Follmer, Gordon Johncock, Arnie Knepper, Art Pollard, Dick Simon, Carl Williams and Cale Yarborough.

After Vollstedt sold 67-B to Art Sugai late in 1972, it immediately suffered a crash in Phoenix that wrecked its suspension and crushed the left side of its fuselage. Tom Fox, Sugai’s chief mechanic, acquired the damaged car, along with a trove of spare parts—including an original wooden body buck Vollstedt had thought he destroyed.

Meanwhile, some Portland, Oregon, enthusiasts restored the 67-A car—likely unaware that 67-B still existed—as a tribute to Clark’s #21. This car ultimately made its way to Australia.

Chassis 67-B as it was stored in a machine shop in Washington state until 2007; though numbered 17 here, when it was driven by Clark, it was #21. Photo courtesy of Mike McKinney.

In fact, 67-B and its collection of parts had ended up safely stored in Ron Yurich’s Silverdale, Washington, machine shop until 2007 when Michael McKinney—a part-time National/Regional Club Formula Atlantic driver—and friends Ron Hjaltalin and Marc Prentice, purchased it with the intention of driving it in exhibition races.

Still in its damaged state, 67-B also lacked its engine, gearbox and right-side suspension. The good news was that Rolla Vollstedt himself was able to confirm that it was indeed Clark’s car. At one point, as the then-89-year-old Vollstedt looked over the car, he chuckled, “Geez, I was pretty good back then!”

Rolla Vollstedt sits atop the wheel of his restored creation at his 95th birthday party in 2013. Photo courtesy of Marc Prentice.

Once the restoration got under way, which Mike explains was careful “to preserve as much of the original car, its construction and parts as possible,” it took approximately 15 months to complete. An appropriate powerplant—Mario Andretti’s Indy 500-race-winning Ford four-cam engine—was sourced from Al Unser Sr. and converted back from its turbocharged form by legendary engine builder Joe Boghosian. Many talented and helpful hands—including Bob Talbert, Rhody Hayes and Mike’s wife and daughters—worked to make 67-B come together in time for the centennial celebration of the Indianapolis 500 in 2011.

Over the shoulder of Mike McKinney in Vollstedt 67-B coming out of turn four at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Legends Day 2014; Mario Andretti leads the group in his Indy rookie car. Photo courtesy of Mike McKinney.

When Mike was a kid, he had dreamed of racing at Indy with all of his favorite drivers. Little did he know that he’d get that chance at the 500, driving, of all cars, Jimmy Clark’s Vollstedt.

[This article is a “Vintage Racer” story appearing in Hemmings Muscle Machines, June 2015. For this article, and many like it, subscribe here.]

According to one estimate, more people saw the Lincoln X-100 concept car than any other Ford concept car before or since. Ford trotted it out just about anywhere it could: dealership openings, freeway openings, ice cream stand openings, you name it. But that was during the mid-1950s, when the car was new, and while The Henry Ford has had it on display for many years since then, the museum has decided to continue the tradition of maximum exposure for the car by showing it at this year’s Keels and Wheels concours.

Discounting a number of experimental cars and Edsel Ford’s hot rods—which might have gone on public display but were built primarily for his personal use—the X-100 represents Ford’s first proper concept car as we recognize them today. It previewed styling cues for future production models; it wowed the crowds at various auto shows; and it boasted whiz-bang technology that seemed to come from the far-flung future. And it wouldn’t have come about if it weren’t for Ford’s rivalry with General Motors.

As Jim and Cheryl Farrell relate in their book Ford Design Department Concept and Showcars, 1932-1961, the X-100 got its start in about 1949 with designer Joe Oros, who had heard from some former GM designers that the company was working on multiple high-technology concept cars—cars that would eventually be revealed in 1951 as the LeSabre and the XP-300. More pressing, though, Oros, who was working on the 1952 Ford’s design at the time, desperately wanted to use the big round jet exhaust-like taillamps that Advanced Studio designer Gil Spear had used on the Cutlass, one of several 3/8-scale clay styling models he created for Ford in the late 1940s. Oros believed those taillamps could become a design hallmark for Ford and that the best way to keep other companies (like GM) from using it was to debut it on a concept car first.

Oros got his way and his boss, George Walker, assigned him the project, working out of the Lincoln studio. He took the rear third of the X-100 almost straight from Spear’s Cutlass, but reworked the rest of the car’s design to include a retractable clear roof section and its hooded headlamps over a protruding front bumper.

Photo via Ford Media.

According to the Farrells, word about the X-100 got around the Ford executive offices as it took shape, and even Henry Ford II stopped by to examine it while it was still in progress, believing the car had the potential to become the next Lincoln Continental. To that end, the studio renamed the car the Continental 195X. Though based on a 1952 Lincoln chassis and drivetrain, the Continental 195X featured a number of advancements under the skin, including a de Dion-style independent rear suspension, power brakes and power steering, and a 1952 Lincoln Y-block overhead-valve V-8 with five carburetors on a “Multi-plex throat” intake manifold: one central four-barrel carburetor and four additional two-barrel carburetors around the four-barrel. The Continental 195X also used Firestone radial-ply tires, reportedly making it the first Ford vehicle to use radials.

Ford introduced the Continental 195X in January 1952 at the Chicago Auto Show as a pushmobile, possibly with a fiberglass body and certainly with Continental badging on it. And though Henry Ford II championed the car as the next Continental, his brother, William Clay Ford—whom Henry Ford II tasked with the Continental Mark II project—found that potential Continental buyers preferred a more formal design.

Not to let all that work go to waste, Ford renamed the car the X-100, removed the Continental badging, and assigned engineer Hiram Pacific the task of making it a fully functioning car. That meant not only tuning the quintuple-carbureted Y-block to run properly, but also getting all of the promised geegaws working. In addition to the power retractable top section—which would close automatically when it began to rain thanks to a water sensor mounted to the roof—the X-100 also featured built-in hydraulic jacks, heated seats front and rear, memory power seats, power hood and trunk lid, hot and cold windshield washer sprays, a center console with a telephone and dictaphone and an electric shaver, and thermostatically controlled fans to cool the front brakes.

All the gizmos and the revamped steel body not only added a severe load to the electrical system but also plenty of weight overall. Pacific upgraded the car to 12 volt with circuit breakers to handle the electrical load and had to have the tires specially made and many extra gussets placed in the frame to handle the car’s 6,300 or so pounds.

But work it did when Ford re-debuted it as part of the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations in the summer of 1953. That fall, Ford then shipped it to Europe for the Paris Auto Show, the Earl’s Court Auto Show, and the Bonn and Köln auto shows. Around the end of the year, it returned to the States and spent the next year and a half touring the country, stopping by at dealerships, shows, fairs and any other opportunity for publicity. It even co-starred with Lauren Bacall in the 1954 movie Woman’s World. What’s more, the Farrells note, it drove to all of those appointments in Europe and the United States, accumulating more than 12,000 miles in the process.

Ford took the X-100 off the show circuit in February 1955 and officially retired it a couple years later then in 1958 gave it to The Henry Ford, where it has remained ever since. In the 1990s it appeared twice at the Pebble Beach Concours and once at Meadow Brook, and more recently it appeared as part of a dream cars display at the Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

The 20th annual Keels and Wheels Concours d’Elegance, where the X-100 will next go on display, will take place May 2-3 in Seabrook, Texas. For more information, visit Keels-Wheels.com.

We’re gonna head this one off at the pass: Yes, this 1968 Ford Torino GT for sale on Hemmings.com has aftermarket wheels. Even if the seller isn’t including the original wheels with the car, so what – wheels and tires are incredibly easy to swap around for performance, personalization, or whatever purpose the next owner has in mind. So if you don’t like ’em, buy the car and change ’em out. That said, the rest of the car looks well done, repainted in the original color and with a handful of other select upgrades – nothing departing far from stock, but enough to keep it driveable on today’s roads. From the seller’s description:

This is an original California black plate car. I purchased it in 1995 in San Jose, California, from the original owner’s daughter. It had been parked since 1988. It had been painted white over the original Brittany Blue paint. I stripped it down to bare metal and had it painted in 1996 with DuPont Imron paint, very close to the original Brittany Blue paint, but with more metal flake in it. The paint still looks great. It has the original 289-2V engine and the original C-4 automatic transmission with the 2.79 rear end. All the glass, stainless trim, bumpers, and body panels are original to the car except the right front quarter panel and hood. The undercarriage has not been cleaned or detailed. The original exhaust was recently replace with a dual exhaust system. The engine has 300 miles on a complete rebuild. It is upgraded to a Petronix distributor, an aluminum radiator and a Flow Kooler water pump. The original radiator and distributor come with the car. The transmission was rebuilt in 2005 and has only 3,000 miles on it. The front suspension was completely gone over in 2004. In the past two years, I have put in a new headliner and had the front seats reupholstered. The original dash has an oil pressure gauge, temperature gauge and a voltage gauge in the spot where the optional clock would have been located. The back seat is original to the car and looks perfect. The door panels are also original to the car. I recently had the front drum brakes replaced with period correct Kelsey- Hayes front disc brakes. It is now a manual disc brake car, which is much better than the drum brakes at highway speeds. The car currently has a set of vintage ET-Mags with BFGoodrich T/A’s on it. The original slotted GT rims go with the car, which includes the beauty rings and GT center caps. The car has the original Ford high beam headlights, but after market low beams. One noticeable blemish is on the hood, driver’s side where a hood bolt to long dented the hood. Can’t really see it in the picture but it is visible at certain angles. Also the rear bumper is dented to the left of the license plate. Most people don’t notice it. There are some minor scratches from road debris but since I wax the car I know where they are.

The car gets a lot of looks when it’s out on the road or at a car show, as you just don’t see these cars anymore. The car drives out nice and smooth. The Marti report is included with the sale of the car, which documents all the correct order information for this car.

No, this 1962 Ford Falcon for sale on Hemmings.com isn’t some sort of original-paint survivor. No, it doesn’t have a sleeper V-8 under the hood. No, it’s not some sort of oddball export model once owned by the prince of Indiana. Rather, it’s probably something much less common: a thoroughly restored example of probably the most basic, proletarian transportation one could find in the United States in the early 1960s. From the seller’s description:

One of the finest examples of a Ford Falcon coupe available. Only a person who loves Falcons would go to the time and expense to do such an original style restoration. This particular Falcon was restored by an enthusiast in Florida. There is easily $20K+ in just the restoration; parts/labor. The original color of champagne exterior is rare to see, let alone the two-door coupe in original, ‘time warp’ condition. The car has universal appeal, and drives like a dream. It actually can carry six people, and a trunkful of stuff. All parts are available, and the simplicity of the car is what makes it so appealing. Some other details: full, bare metal repaint in original rare Champagne color. Complete, new interior; new seat foam, upholstery, carpet, dynamat-type sound deadening, padded dash, restored steering wheel, iPod connection for music in glovebox. Chassis restoration, including suspension, brakes, steering components. New fuel tank. All chrome, rechromed. 13-inch wheels, with new radial wide whites. 170-cu.in. six-cylinder; complete rebuild; approx 2,000 miles. New clutch. South Carolina car. Original front grille; very rare to have a ’62 grille, since most have not survived.

One would think that now wouldn’t exactly be the best time to offer a snow-going machine like this 1919 Ford Model T snowmobile for sale on Hemmings.com. However, one would be wrong, because it seems like this winter just won’t quit up here in the Northeast; we’ll probably still have snow for it to drive on through June. Well, that, and one can still convert the snowmobile back to a road-going car for the summer months. From the seller’s description:

NH Ossipee Virgil White Snowmobile. This is a 1919 Touring 5-passenger snowmobile. Last used on the snow in February 2015. Good body wood, new two-man top with side curtains, new upholstery and paint. The snowmobile components are authentic right down to the SNOWMOBILE tags on the skis. Electronic ignition, auxiliary transmission, new bands, floor mats, Good-running car.

Plenty of nice Deuce roadster street rods come up for sale all the time, but this particular 1932 Ford roadster for sale on Hemmings.com has a few attributes that set it apart. To begin with, it uses an original Ford steel body – not from fiberglass, not a replica steel body. Roy Brizio built it, which accounts for how nice, neat and professional it appears. And it’s seen plenty of miles under those tires with Steve Coonan of The Rodders Journal at the wheel. From the seller’s description:

I got this roadster approximately 7 years ago, not long after we started referring to it as the “Rodder’s Journal Roadster”. It was originally built for Rich Dederian by Brizio Street Rods back in the late 1990s. Rich has been a hot rodder since the 1950s and even had a flathead-powered channeled Deuce roadster in one of Petersen’s Trend one-shot books back in the ‘50s. He had known Roy for years since both of them are from Northern California.

Rich sent Roy a nice original ’32 roadster body and had him build the Deuce highboy of his dreams. He had only put about 7000 miles on it when I acquired it. I loved the car, but wanted to change a few things to make it more of my own. My favorite ’32 highboys have always been the Tom McMullen, Gary Kessler and Barry Lobeck roadsters. My goal was to give this car the same flavor, but with straight black paint. My goal with the roadster I now have was to retain all of the great driving characteristics that Brizio cars are well known for while giving it as much of the McMullen/Kessler/Lobeck-style look as possible.

The first year I had it, I added the rear frame horns a stock-style gas tank and a new full-length grille shell and insert. This work was done at Brizio Street Rods. I also changed the exhaust system, and made a bunch of other small changes to change the aesthetics to more my taste and make the car as suitable as possible for both long-distance rod runs and around town cruising.

More recently the 9-inch Ford rear and coilovers have been removed and replaced with a Model A crossmember, Model A spring and a Winters V8 quickchange with the early Ford style bells. California Street Rods in Huntington Beach, California, performed this work. This year the top end of the engine has also been updated. Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads were installed along with a new Edelbrock Performer RPM intake. I have also tried to backdate the appearance of the engine to give it a mid-to-late ’60s’ vibe. I have always loved the idea of having a Deuce highboy with a muscle car type drivetrain. I like the look, feel and performance of the era. Moon finned-aluminum valve covers and a GM hi-po-style air cleaner were installed with this in mind.

This year I have also had Sid Chavers custom fit one of his new Bop-Tops. I love driving the car without a top, but I do like the extra protection from the sun and rain. The new top proved to be worth its weight in gold in a recent trip to Texas for the Lonestar Roundup. I chose an off-white color, since I though it contrasts nicely with the black paint and polished wheels and contributed to the 1960s vibe. I chose a removable rear window, which does improve ventilation and visibility, particularly on long trips. I also feel the removable rear window gives a more retro vibe to the look of the top.

We’ve seen Edsel front ends adapted to a number of bodystyles that Edsels never came with, thanks to the shared body shells with Fords and Mercurys of the period—Edcheros, mostly. However, we’ve never seen an Edsel front end adapted to a Skyliner retractable hardtop body as it has been with this 1957 Ford Skyliner for sale on Hemmings.com. Who exactly added the Pacer schnozz and trim and even rear quarters is unknown; the seller hints that it could have been a Ford prototype, but cannot confirm that story. Either way, it’s a unique car, and one that has been kept in road-ready condition. From the seller’s description:

A brief rundown of what I have done over the years to ensure drivability (and provide any future owner with a Turn-Key ownership experience) is as follows: New Edelbrock performance carburetor (new rebuild kit last September), Electric fuel pump (original fuel pump is still in place to operate vacuum windshield wipers), Pertronix electronic ignition with Flame Thrower Coil, New radiator/heater hoses, New heater core, Radiator boiled and flushed; thermostat replaced, Generator rebuilt and new voltage regulator (replaced last September), New custom-made Diamondback radial tires (have about three thousand miles on them), Deluxe full wheel covers with optional chrome spinners and body-color insert, Complete front-end rebuild (also replaced front and rear shocks), NOS exhaust manifold and gasket on driver’s side (the originals are known to crack), NOS full steel roof, December 2012, New weather stripping for roof, including rear windshield, New rear leaf springs to replace original ones. Car sits at proper level now, even with roof retracted inside the trunk area, New wheel cylinders, Installed power brakes (kit used a 1971-1973 Corvette booster and dual-circuit master cylinder. Car stops better than my Mercedes now), New rear universal joint, New neutral safety switch, Several of the limit switches for the retractable roof have been rebuilt also for smoother operation, New battery in May of 2013

The paint on the car is about 20 years old and appears to be enamel. It has held up well, but there are some small chips that I have filled in, due to the amount of seasonal driving I have used this car for. A good “10-Footer” that still shines up nicely. The vinyl interior is original for the 1958 Edsel Pacer convertibles and has held up very well also.

Two years ago, I noticed that the roof was beginning to sag whenever I would retract it into the trunk area, so I had a specialist take a look, and he determined that one of the anchor points in the C pillar was rusted through. A New Old Stock full steel roof was located in Los Angeles and shipped to Rhode Island, where it was installed and painted to match the red sections of the two-toned body, so it is as strong now as it was when it left the factory over 50 years ago. Wiring and solenoids for roof operations have also been replaced as needed for trouble-free summer open-air driving!

I believe that is all – since I’ve owned the car I have used premium fuel, as prescribed by the original owner’s manual. The engine is a Ford 312 (Thunderbird Special) rated at 245 horsepower, but the new electronic ignition and carburetor have probably bumped it up another ten or 15 hp. Fastest car I have ever owned and cruising speed is between 75 and 80 on the freeway, so no problem keeping up with traffic. The transmission is still a Fordomatic two-speed (starts off in second gear unless accelerator pedal is pushed all the way to the floor from a dead stop, which engages 1st gear or the driver can pull the gear shift all the way into Low). The problematic Teletouch gear selector was removed for this more reliable setup at some point before I bought it. Car is started in Neutral as designed.

Odometer shows 90,000 (4,000 of which I have put on). Massachusetts title and registration are both clear and current.

The first car to win a race at Lions Drag Strip and reportedly the first dragster to run a small-block Chevrolet V-8, the Mike Waters and Dean Murray-built Triple Nickel – this 1929 Ford Model A for sale on Hemmings.com – spent years outside and neglected after its retirement in the 1960s, but has since been restored and nowadays features a quad-carb Chevrolet 302 small-block set way back under the Model A cowl along with its signature torsion bar suspension. From the seller’s description:

The Famous “555” Triple Nickel is now available for sale. Here are just a few highlights of its amazing history. 2010 Recipient of the prestigious Bruce Meyer Hot Rod Preservation Perpetual Trophy ;1 of the top 20 picks to represent the Grand Nationals History of Racing; 2009 Kirkland Concourse winner; Featured in 2014 The Rodder’s Journal #61; Won 1st race at Lions Drag Strip on opening day.